Pick of the Week Podcast

06.01.08 – Episode #135 – Giant Size Astonishing X-Men #1

Show Notes

So many great books came out this week that it’s the return of the All Book Show!

Running Time: 01:00:10

00:01:20 – It was a tough week, but Josh went with Giant Size Astonishing X-Men #1 as the Pick of the Week!00:12:54 – Everyone is generally positive about Final Crisis #1.00:20:39 – Opinions are mixed on Batman #677.00:23:23 – More of the same with New Avengers #41…00:27:04 – Things get super serious with Dave Sim’s Judenhass.00:32:29 – Greg Rucka brings new life to Daredevil #107.00:34:38 – Revelations are made with Ultimate Spider-Man #122.00:37:47 – In All Star Superman #11 Lex Luthor is scary.00:39:13 – Proof #8 wraps up the best story arc of the series, thus far.00:40:25 – The Geoff Johns Retcon Train Rolls on with Action Comics #865.00:41:41 – Huntress: Year One #2 is solid character work from a new comics writer.00:43:17 – Marvel: 1985 #1 was like Marvel Zombie porn that everyone can enjoy.00:47:09 – Firebreather #1 was a fun Invincible-esque romp.00:49:26 – The war has begun in Fables #73.00:50:27 – The iFanboy love for Dan Dare #6gushes over.Music:Method ManWu-Tang Clan

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Re: Cyclops in the end of Astonishing — back when Emma put him in the coma in issue 14, she told him that he was capable of controlling his powers and had been suppressing the ability. So she’s not doing it; he’s doing it. She just showed him how. The ending here suggests that he can’t keep it up indefinitely (which would explain why he’s only been seen with the visor/glasses in books that happened later), but also leaves the possibility open for later writers to work with.

Regarding the podcast where someone mentioned that this run of Astonishing X-Men was up there among the greats. I disagree. The book while good, is not great, in my opinion, I think that it gets all th epress because of the success that Whedon had with Buffy and the fact that until his run the entire franchise had been stagnant for years to flat-out bad when Lobdell was writing it. He was truly awful. Whedon’s style was different and new, and he took chances, like the Danger Room storyline, but some of the changes I didn’t care for, such as Wolverine being six feet tall. Or how Cyclops visor remains on his face with no visible means of support, I thought they were unstoppable? Those are minor nits but, I just wanted to chime that in. Astonishing, Good even very good, but not great.

Regarding Judenhass: I haven’t read it (at least not yet), but I wanted to correct what sounds like a historical error in the book. George Washington was a strong advocate against such discrimination, and the anti-semitic remark often attributed to him is fake. In fact, in a letter to a Jewish congregation, he wrote "For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection, should demean themselves as good citizens….May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid."

Also, Mark Twain was a crusader against anti-semitism, but he did actually say some pretty awful things when younger and continued to use broad stereotypes of Jews even when arguing against anti-semitism.

I don’t mean to belittle the very real and terrible phenomenon of anti-semitism throughout history, and the book sounds very interesting and powerful, but it does sound like some of Sim’s quotes could use some context, clarification, and/or fact-checking.